Big insurance is making a stand, GMOs need to go

Kaiser Permanente, the largest not-for-proft healthcare organization in the United States, is advising members to reduce their exposure to foods that contain ingredients known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

These ingredients, quietly introduced into our food supply without labels or long-term safety studies, are either banned from or labeled in foods in dozens of countries around the world.

Because these ingredients are largely unknown to American consumers, in its Northwest Fall 2012 newsletter, Kaiser warns of the potential danger GMOs pose both to our health and the national food supply.

According to their newsletter:

GMOs have been added to our food supply since 1994, but most people don’t know it because the United States does not require labeling of GMOs. As of 2012, most corn, soybeans, canola, cotton, and sugar beets are genetically modified. Nearly 80 percent of processed food and most fast food contain GMOs.

Despite what the biotech industry might say, there is little research on the long-term effects of GMOs on human health. Independent research has found several varieties of GMO corn caused organ damage in rats. Other studies have found that GMOs may lead to an inability in animals to reproduce.

Kaiser Permanente goes on to suggest several things members can do to help limit their exposure to GMOs, including buying food labeled “USDA Certified Organic”, food which by law is not allowed to be produced using this new technology and these genetically modified organisms, and to look for “Non GMO Project Verified” labeled foods.

To learn more about why Kaiser Permanente feels so strongly about this issue, please visit Just Label It.